Starkweather + Compass equals loads of brokenness.
They actually have a new title in that still-broken system up for pre-order. It’s the first game ever I think that can be said to be broken and a failure while it is on pre-order
Wow! How maddening.
Screw em. Its a small hobby and we all talk. There are better companies and games out there.
Quite a few rule screwups and printing issues with Zeppelin Raider, too. Not exactly broken out of the box, but disappointing (lack of) QA.
It is a shame, because they have some projects I’d probably bite on like the Third World War remake.
Any idea what is up with Starkweather? I thought his Arnhem games from MMP were well regarded, but maybe MMP did a better job managing the projects and cleaned up his deficiencies.
I think this is correct. MMP has flaws but they are a solid publisher. Compass clearly doesnt give that level of support to its designers/developers.
This. Though the Angola release had issues originally 9he was developing, not designing).
Also he straight up lied and told a fairy tale about Fire and Ice, that the wrong version of the rules got sent for printing, but he didn’t want to mount new ones because they weren’t ready? And Santa Claus’ dog ate his homework.
And the same nonsense happened with his Company Scale System.
I basically think they don’t edit, QC or mandate playtesting standards. And its evident Starkweather doesn’t do any playtesting in any rigorous fashion. Add this all together and its a crapola fiesta. Arriba!
Well, at least it saves me from diving back into a hobby I don’t really have space or time for, which would most likely result in there being a stack of unplayed games in here somewhere. :)
Maybe I’ll break out the copy of Gulf Strike I picked up and play around with that for a bit.
Wait, Compass being bad keeps you from rejoining the wargaming hobby? There are like ten hojillion other publishers!
Not really. Space and time for the most part, but them having a crap reputation stops me from making an impulse purchase on something like the NATO and Third World War remakes.
I was looking forward to that as well. Great game. But yeah, I cant see me rolling the dice with Compass again.
Happily there are several reliable high quality wargames publishers out there to fill the gap.
I should have posted this here instead of the board gaming thread:
I watched that the other day. Very informative. I’ve wanted to play something like Kriegsspeil or something, for years now. I imagine if I joined the Army and went to officer training I’d get the chance, which seems a bit of a commitment to me.
The Two Fat Lardies sell a modern reprint, I think, I’ve been tempted, I have to admit…,
Has anyone seen/heard about Nubia: Egypt’s Black Heirs? It’s another solo game from the designer of White Tribe, R. Madison. Maybe @Brooski is interested? It’s certainly an obscure (good) setting and seems to share the philosophy of White Tribe increasingly against the odds resistance.
I’ve been going back and forth about whether I should jump in on Lock 'n Load Tactical for some time now. They have pretty much everything on sale at the moment, so I figure now might be a good time to jump in.
But…this seems like it’s a series/system that you need go all-in for to get a decent return on investment, as it’s really expensive. Regular prices for the System Rules and Solo Rules alone runs $120 (and that’s before you add in any modules/maps/expansions).
I like tactical level games (Ambush! and Warfighter WW II are two of my favorites), and I do have interest in the full line of WW II base games (Normandy, France, North Africa, Russia, Pacific) as well as the Vietnam game. But, getting it all would be pushing $1000. On the other hand, just the Base Normandy Game (the one I would pick if I chose just 1) and the Rules add up to $130, even at sale prices.
Convince me, one way or another, on whether I should take the plunge…
Tony
I bought the Vietnam Game, and it sits sadly in shrink-wrap. So no comment on the game. I bought it because if it is about Vietnam, I buy it (except the Starkweather title-boycotting him and Compass since Fire and Ice…anyhoo). Just didn’t have the time for that one.
Having said that, a logic point could be that if you get that one game on that one theater that is is disconnected from the potential money-pit of WW2 offerings, and you like how it does business, then you could consider expanding to the WW2 candy-store.
Now regarding Vietnam Tactical Combat, purely and simply, this is coming out, and looks intriguing:
http://www.multimanpublishing.com/tabid/58/CategoryID/2/ProductID/318/Default.aspx
Available for preorder 11/09/15
This is a very simplistic book… but oddly it has some nice detail. If you are interested in the basics of ancient warfare – at least one part of it… it isn’t 
bad.
I would not consider this book authority … but … it isn’t half bad a listen (on audible)
Hey, Anthem took a long time, too!